Unidentified Internet Users Pose Danger

With a simple click, the internet allows us to connect with old friends from high school or maybe even research information about March on Washington for class, but could the internet also be a dangerous place? Last week, students across the nation discussed how the internet can be a useful, but also a dangerous place in our #DoNowInternet post. We asked students, What is it that makes the internet potentially dangerous? It may have to do with how you interact with people—do you talk to people you meet online in the same way you would talk to someone you met offline? How are the risks teenagers face online different or similar to the risks they face in a place like the school hallway or the mall?

According to the Pew Research Internet Project, 95% of teenagers are online. Social media networks like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, connect people together to share images and conversations. However, this easy connection also means complete strangers have the more access to personal information. In recent years, there have been many reported cases of exploitation where people use websites like Facebook to attract others into relationships that may lead to commercial sexual exploitation.

While many students talked about how strangers can find personal information and how easy it is to trust others online, the majority focused their attention on how it’s the way people use it, along with the anonymous identity of online users, that makes the internet a dangerous place.

Who’s on the other side of the screen?

Students expressed their concern about not knowing the true identity of people online.

Content Areas

Share Your Story

What are you working on at school, in an after-school program, or on your own time? This space is also for educators to post digital media projects that have been made by your students. Show us what you are making.